Major League Baseball can really do a lot to avoid situations like the one that came up when Sam Mayfield caught Matt Wieters’ first HR ball with EASE.

Put this on the back of every ticket stub….

“Major League Baseball holds the right to confiscate any baseball hit into the stands should they choose to.”

BUT, they should be fair about it. If a MLB team wants a particular baseball back, they should automatically have a trade policy in place. No negotiating, no taking fans or baseballs hostage, just an immediate agreement. You give us the ball back, we give you one autographed bat and one autographed ball. If you want your picture with the player, it will be arranged after the game.

It’s not unfair. It’s a baseball. A child’s plaything. If someone really wants the thing, let them have it. For a fair return price of course. But as we saw with the scrum in San Francisco when Barry Bonds’ HR ball broke Hank Aaron’s record (*?), having these baseballs immediately become the property of a fan can lead to violent, dangerous situations.

Just avoid all of it. Create a rule, and make it uniform. But be fair about it.

-As much as Matt Wieters’ first home run helped the start of the “Wieters legacy”, what he did last night is even more crucial in my mind. He took a tough pitch, went with it, and used aggressive baserunning to get into scoring position. What a big play, what a great night, and what a huge moment for Matt.

Thanks to everyone who came out to The Barn last night for the annual Ravens Rookie Show; both fans and the guys who made it out. It was a great night of getting to know the guys. Couple of quick notes on each guy….says Ravens not interested in Marshall

-Paul Kruger’s hair is awesome, and you can tell he feels like he has something to prove.
-Jason Phillips knew exactly how to play to the crowd, rocking an Orioles hat despite growing up as an Astros fan. Having dealt with injuries and missed the first OTA’s, he’s ready to see the field.
-Faith is a big deal for Cedric Peerman, who felt like playing for Al Groh at Virginia gave him a leg up on NFL preparation.
-Graham Gano appeared a little nervous, but is obviously excited about the chance to be the guy who replaces a legend. He hopes to stay in Baltimore just as long as Matt Stover did.
-Lardarius Webb is a BIG fan of Ed Reed, and has been particularly grateful for the chance to play alongside him.
-Davon Drew isn’t particularly loud, but knows he has a chance to make an impact on both offense and special teams. Coming from North Carolina, he was a big fan of Bojangles.
-Jason Cook is the entertainer of this rookie class. Good guy, very smart, and could very well end up on the roster with Lorenzo Neal gone. He also is a big music fan, including Kings of Leon.

The Sun’s Jeff Barker cited two unnamed sources in reporting Monday that the Terps were no longer pursuing star New York recuit Lance “Born Ready” Stephenson (Lincoln High). And the only name who could confirm such a thing did so Tuesday morning.

In an interview with Bob Haynie on AM1570 WNST, Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams confirmed the Terps have closed their 2009 recruiting class. When asked by Haynie if recruiting was “done for the class of ’09”, Gary did not mix words.

“Definitely.”

Certainly Stephenson’s recruitment has been so strange that I wouldn’t be surprised if the story had another twist; but this would almost definitely appear to slam the door.

As much as I want Greivis to be a successful point guard, I just don’t know that he’s going to have the talent around him this season to make him look like an all-world point guard. He will still be relied on for scoring, which isn’t the part of his game NBA scouts are worried about.

Is it the right thing for Maryland?

Absolutely. This is Maryland’s best chance to finish above .500 in the ACC, even if Lance Stephenson really isn’t coming to College Park. The Terps certainly needed Vasquez back, and will benefit from having him.

Felix Hernandez was good last night, but he wasn’t great. The Orioles had plenty of runners on base (including 7 hits), and had multiple runners left in scoring position. They failed to get productive outs; and they SERIOUSLY failed to drive home runners who advanced. Brian Roberts should have been going on contact on Nick Markakis’ double, but instead stopped either A-because he thought the ball would hit him (it wouldn’t) or B-he forgot there were 2 outs.

This is the most baseball analysis you’ll get from me in a while. I went to the game last night (and hello to the hundreds of my friends who were also there), so I guess I was just particularly frustrated to have paid money to see a team that couldn’t do the little things. This is why I don’t spend more money to watch the games.

This from WNST’s own Emily Agueda, who is better known as CCRG’s “She Guevara”……
“Food, beer and chicks on skates. It’s a great night of fun.“

Food, beer, and chicks on skates, huh? I think I’ve seen that porno before. I felt the need to share this picture here. If you object, something tells me you wouldn’t really be a fan of my work anyway….

It seems like it has been a while since we’ve heard a drug or sex-related Michael Phelps story, so I figured I’d make one up.

Michael Phelps was caught Saturday night leaving Ritz Cabaret in Fells Point with a midget, two illegal immigrants, and Sheila Dixon. The group was believed to be headed to an underground gambling parlor near Pimlico; where they would be participating in heavy heroin use and unsafe sex.

Look, it’s REALLY tough to be an Orioles fan right now; but no matter how many times you ask me, it is NOT Training Camp yet. But with that in mind, it’s time for a game I like to call “Look at the pictures Ravens players post on their Facebook pages.”

NO!!!! Holy crap I’m torn like Natalie Imbruglia. (Thanks Chad Dukes.) I mean, these colors don’t run; but I’ve always rooted for Italy because America is terrible at soccer! What the hell do I do? I mean, maybe I should weigh the pros and cons…..

Let’s move to cinema. The Godfather is Italian; and damn it’s good. But America brought us “The Jesus”

Point USA. You don’t f*ck with The Jesus.

I guess this one will have to come down to Tailgate drinking games. First of all, Italy gave us bocce. I haven’t stopped thanking them for that. But America gave us cornhole. This is a tie! Can America and Italy both be involved in something at the same time???????

Anna is reportedly a golfer; but I’m reasonably certain you don’t give a crap. Anna reportedly set up a cell phone for fans to call her on. The number is 213-785-7675. I would call myself, but there is pending litigation. I’m sure you understand.

Now I’d like to introduce you to Natalie Gulbis.

She will also reportedly be in Harford County this week; meaning I will have to see if that incident from the night I went to see Mean Girls at the Big M Drive-In still means I’m banned from the area.

Have I given you enough reasons to go out and check out the action in Havre de Grace yet? Of course I haven’t. Golf is awful. But go anyway, just make sure you bring enough sofa pillows.

Is it a bad sign that one of boxing’s biggest events of the year involves two fighters that most people in the world have never heard of? I’m pretty sure that if you had told me Joshua Clottey was going to be starting for the Orioles on Friday, I probably would have gone with it.

It’s June now, and I just noticed something. No one is really asking about which Orioles players should be on the trading block.

I mean, Drew has tossed around the idea of trading Aubrey Huff or Jeremy Guthrie if things went the right way; but we’re not hearing the annual “is there anyone on this team you consider off limits?” discussion we’re used to.

I’ve said before that I have no problem with the Orioles playing their bench players on Sundays, and I really mean that. If the Orioles want to play their reserves on Sundays, I think they should. It is almost always a day game after a night game, and a good time to rest your starters.

But if you’re going to play your reserves, you absolutely HAVE to have reserves who are worth playing. And the Orioles just don’t have that. They have Robert Andino.

Pitching and depth will make this a good ball club; probably still another power bat. How long will it take for those things to come to this organization? I’ll be waiting.

-I do not know as much about the women’s program at Maryland as I do about the men’s program; but it is fair to say that the amount of turnover within the program in the last year or so is concerning. Congratulations to Daron Park on getting what appears to be a very good chance to take a Head Coach-in-Waiting type position at Louisiana Tech. There appear to be very plausible to extremely good explanations for why players and coaches have left College Park, but it does seem a bit odd.

It will be all too easy for MASN to make yesterday’s game a future “Defining Moment.”

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Orioles are not playoff contenders.

But yesterday was about as much fun as I’ve had watching an Orioles game as I can remember. I was at Padonia Station yesterday afternoon to watch the UEFA Champions League final; and a ton of fans stuck around after the soccer game to watch the Orioles’ rally.

It was surreal. Down 8-3, then down 10-8, then the Reimold homer.

Watching the game with a crowd of people; it was a special feel.

But it wasn’t a franchise turner. This organization is still well away from that. Let’s not get carried away.

-Does the John Calipari scandal at Memphis make Lance Stephenson more likely to come to Maryland? Maybe. If Stephenson had limited his choices to the Tigers and Terps, the Terps are certainly in a better position today than they were yesterday.

-Does Anquan Boldin firing Drew Rosenhaus make Boldin more likely to be traded to the Ravens? No. Boldin fired Rosenhaus because he wants a new contract with the Cardinals; and Rosenhaus had yet to do that.